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Lewis Warner Green

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Lewis Warner Green

Birth
Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky, USA
Death
26 May 1863 (aged 57)
Kentucky, USA
Burial
Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Lewis Warner Green, fifth president of Centre College, was born on January 28, 1806, near Danville, Kentucky.

He was the youngest of the twelve children born to Willis Marshall Green and Sarah Reed.

Both his parents died when he was young, and Green was raised by his eldest brother Judge John Green.

He received his first instruction from Duncan F. Robertson and Joshua Fry, both renowned teachers of the day.

When he was thirteen, Green attended the classical school at Buck Pond in Woodford County, Kentucky, regarded as the best classical academy in Kentucky.

The school was conducted in the home of Dr. Louis Marshall, brother of Chief Justice John Marshall.

A promising scholar, Green was sent to Transylvania University, but transferred in 1822 to the newly founded Centre College, where he was one of two members of the first graduating class in 1824.

Following graduation, Green began working in the law office of his brother, Judge John Green, but his interests began to lean towards medicine.

He studied for a short while under Ephraim McDowell in Danville before his career took another direction when he decided to enter the ministry.

In 1831 Green enrolled in the Princeton Theological Seminary, but returned to Danville the next year to accept the invitation of President John C. Young to become professor of belles-lettres and political economy at Centre.

In 1834 the college gave Green a two-year leave of absence to continue his studies in Germany.

After returning to the United States, the Synod of Kentucky appointed Green professor of Oriental and Biblical literature at the new seminary connected with Hanover College, Indiana.

The next year he returned to his old chair at Centre College, along with the additional duties of vice-president of the college and co-pastor of the Danville Presbyterian Church.

Soon, however, Green left Danville for what was to be a seventeen-year absence.

In May 1840, he was appointed by the Presbyterian General Assembly as professor of Oriental literature and Biblical criticism at Western Theological Seminary, Alleghany, Pennsylvania.

In 1847 Green moved to Baltimore to accept a pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church. Within a year he moved again, this time to Virginia to become president of Hampden-Sidney College.

He was a successful president there for eight years until returning to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1856 as the president of the newly reorganized Transylvania University.

However, the withdrawal of state support led him to resign the office in 1857.

Following the sudden death of President John C. Young that same year, the Board of Trustees of Centre College extended to Green an invitation to become the president of his alma mater. He accepted the offer, and assumed the office on January 1, 1858.

The college continued to prosper under Green as it had under Young.

Within two years of his appointment, however, the Civil War engulfed the nation.

On October 12, 1862, Centre found itself at the middle of the storm as the Battle of Perryville erupted ten miles west of Danville. The campus was used by both armies for a hospital, and as a headquarters by Union troops for several months as they took control of central Kentucky.

Green was steadfast in his determination to keep the college open, even as many other schools were closing for lack of students, funds, or support.

Enrollment steadily declined, but the college never cancelled a single day of classes. There were even small signs of growth; the Board of Trustee minutes for June 1863 mention completion of the Sayre Library.

On May 26, 1863, after five days of illness, caught, it was said, by helping treat sick and wounded soldiers,

Green died in office. He was buried in Danville's Bellevue Cemetery.

=========================================

Married first - Eliza J. Montgomery February 1827

Memoir of the life and character of Rev. Lewis Warner Green, D. D., with a selection from his sermons.
Halsey, Leroy J. (Leroy Jones), 1812-1896.

In February, 1827, he was married to Miss Eliza J. Montgomery, daughter of the Hon. Thomas Montgomery, of Lincolnl County, Kentucky. She was a young lady of piety and excellence, and great loveliness, to whom he had been attached for several years.

She was already in an advanced stage of consumption, and knew that her days were numbered, but she yielded to his desire that the rite might be performed which would give him the privilege of ministering to her steadily declining health.

After his marriage he settled upon a part of his paternal farm, and abandoning every object that had hitherto engaged his thoughts, devoted himself to soothing her passage through the dark valley.

She lingered a little longer than two years, and expired with the words upon her lips: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name."

Lewis Warner Green, fifth president of Centre College, was born on January 28, 1806, near Danville, Kentucky.

He was the youngest of the twelve children born to Willis Marshall Green and Sarah Reed.

Both his parents died when he was young, and Green was raised by his eldest brother Judge John Green.

He received his first instruction from Duncan F. Robertson and Joshua Fry, both renowned teachers of the day.

When he was thirteen, Green attended the classical school at Buck Pond in Woodford County, Kentucky, regarded as the best classical academy in Kentucky.

The school was conducted in the home of Dr. Louis Marshall, brother of Chief Justice John Marshall.

A promising scholar, Green was sent to Transylvania University, but transferred in 1822 to the newly founded Centre College, where he was one of two members of the first graduating class in 1824.

Following graduation, Green began working in the law office of his brother, Judge John Green, but his interests began to lean towards medicine.

He studied for a short while under Ephraim McDowell in Danville before his career took another direction when he decided to enter the ministry.

In 1831 Green enrolled in the Princeton Theological Seminary, but returned to Danville the next year to accept the invitation of President John C. Young to become professor of belles-lettres and political economy at Centre.

In 1834 the college gave Green a two-year leave of absence to continue his studies in Germany.

After returning to the United States, the Synod of Kentucky appointed Green professor of Oriental and Biblical literature at the new seminary connected with Hanover College, Indiana.

The next year he returned to his old chair at Centre College, along with the additional duties of vice-president of the college and co-pastor of the Danville Presbyterian Church.

Soon, however, Green left Danville for what was to be a seventeen-year absence.

In May 1840, he was appointed by the Presbyterian General Assembly as professor of Oriental literature and Biblical criticism at Western Theological Seminary, Alleghany, Pennsylvania.

In 1847 Green moved to Baltimore to accept a pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church. Within a year he moved again, this time to Virginia to become president of Hampden-Sidney College.

He was a successful president there for eight years until returning to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1856 as the president of the newly reorganized Transylvania University.

However, the withdrawal of state support led him to resign the office in 1857.

Following the sudden death of President John C. Young that same year, the Board of Trustees of Centre College extended to Green an invitation to become the president of his alma mater. He accepted the offer, and assumed the office on January 1, 1858.

The college continued to prosper under Green as it had under Young.

Within two years of his appointment, however, the Civil War engulfed the nation.

On October 12, 1862, Centre found itself at the middle of the storm as the Battle of Perryville erupted ten miles west of Danville. The campus was used by both armies for a hospital, and as a headquarters by Union troops for several months as they took control of central Kentucky.

Green was steadfast in his determination to keep the college open, even as many other schools were closing for lack of students, funds, or support.

Enrollment steadily declined, but the college never cancelled a single day of classes. There were even small signs of growth; the Board of Trustee minutes for June 1863 mention completion of the Sayre Library.

On May 26, 1863, after five days of illness, caught, it was said, by helping treat sick and wounded soldiers,

Green died in office. He was buried in Danville's Bellevue Cemetery.

=========================================

Married first - Eliza J. Montgomery February 1827

Memoir of the life and character of Rev. Lewis Warner Green, D. D., with a selection from his sermons.
Halsey, Leroy J. (Leroy Jones), 1812-1896.

In February, 1827, he was married to Miss Eliza J. Montgomery, daughter of the Hon. Thomas Montgomery, of Lincolnl County, Kentucky. She was a young lady of piety and excellence, and great loveliness, to whom he had been attached for several years.

She was already in an advanced stage of consumption, and knew that her days were numbered, but she yielded to his desire that the rite might be performed which would give him the privilege of ministering to her steadily declining health.

After his marriage he settled upon a part of his paternal farm, and abandoning every object that had hitherto engaged his thoughts, devoted himself to soothing her passage through the dark valley.

She lingered a little longer than two years, and expired with the words upon her lips: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name."



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  • Maintained by: Gloria
  • Originally Created by: Karen
  • Added: Oct 29, 2009
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43700779/lewis_warner-green: accessed ), memorial page for Lewis Warner Green (28 Jan 1806–26 May 1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 43700779, citing Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky, USA; Maintained by Gloria (contributor 46853390).